Lake Ohrid, Albania, provides an exceptional multi-proxy record of environmental changes during the last glacial–interglacial cycle

• Published in: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Main Authors: Lézine, A.-M., von Grafenstein, U., Andersen, Nils, Belmecheri, Soumaya, Bordon, A., Caron, B., Cazet, Jean-Pierre, Erlenkeuser, Helmut, Fouache, Eric, Grenier, C., Huntsman-Mapila, P., Hureau-Mazaudier, D., Manelli, D., Mazaud, A., Robert, Cédric, Robert, Sulpizio, R., Tiercelin, Jean-Jacques, Zanchetta, G., Zeqollari, Z.
• Other Authors: Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Leibniz Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Stable Isotope Research, Christian-Albrechts-University, Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface (IDES), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Pisa - Università di Pisa, Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Modélisation Hydrologique (HYDRO), Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana (UB), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Geological Survey, Pogradec, Climat et Magnétisme (CLIMAG), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES), CIRISIVU Dpto Geomineralogico, Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro = University of Bari Aldo Moro (UNIBA), Géosciences Rennes (GR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra Pisa, MAFAK - Mission archéologique franco-albanaise du bassin de Korçë (Albanie)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: Ohrid; Albania; Multi-proxy approach; Last climatic cycle; Palaeoenvironments; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; permafrost
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-01547092; https://insu.hal.science/insu-01547092/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-01547092/file/1-s2.0-S0031018210000179-main.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.01.016

International audience Multi-proxy analyses on core JO2004-1 recovered from Lake Ohrid (40°55.000 N, 20°40.297E, 705 m a.s.l.) provide the first environmental and climate reconstruction in a mountainous area in Southern Europe over the last 140,000 years. The response of both lacustrine and terrestrial environments to climate change has been amplified by the peculiar geomorphological and hydrological setting, with a steep altitudinal gradient in the catchment and a karstic system feeding the lake. The karstic system was active during interglacials, leading to high carbonate production in the lake, and blocked during glacials as a result of extremely cold climate conditions with permafrost in the mountains. At the Riss–Eemian transition (Termination 2) the increase in lacustrine productivity predated forest expansion by about 10,000 years. In contrast, the Late Glacial–Holocene transition (Termination 1) was characterized by the dramatic impact of the Younger Dryas, which initially prevented interglacial carbonate production and delayed its maximum until the mid-Holocene. In contrast, forest expansion was progressive, starting as early as ca. 38,000 ago. The proximity of high mountains and the probable moderating lake effect on local climate conditions promoted forest expansion, and contributed to make the surroundings of Lake Ohrid favourable to forest refugia during the last glacial, usually steppic, period. Our study of sedimentology, mineralogy, geochemistry, magnetics, palynology and isotopes illustrates the non-linear response of terrestrial and lacustrine ecosystems to similar climate events, and demonstrates the potential of Lake Ohrid as an excellent paleoclimatic archive during the Quaternary.